FROM CROATIA TO PORTUGAL | NOBODY LIKE ALEKSANDAR MITROVIĆ

29.03.2021.

Two matches, three goals in just three days, and a crown on the head of the king of scorers of the best national team – Aleksandar Mitrović. The Fulham striker had 36 goals in his records before the start in the World Cup qualifiers, then he first broke the record held by the legendary Stjepan Bobek with two goals against the Republic of Ireland, and he definitely broke the 67-year-old record against Portugal. There is no doubt that Mitrovic will quickly be ‘raising the ladder’ in the future and that these 39 goals will be a thing of the past. In any case, our congratulations for the great achievement, and wish that he shakes the nets in the best national team for many years to come.

Aleksandar the Great scored his first goal as member of the Serbian National team in the match vs. Croatia in 2013, interestingly also with his head, then on a cross by Miralem Sulejmani, now after the assistance of Nemanja Radonjić. Out of 39 goals Mitrović scored for the national team, he did it 11 times with his head. It is no secret that the great attacker’s right leg is his stronger point, and he shook the net in the Serbian jersey as many as 22 times, while six executions took place after a left-footed shot. A phenomenal scorer is someone who does great in the opponent’s penalty area, and statistics show that he scored 87 percent of the goals from the penalty area. He was accurate fifteen times from five meters, and he scored 19 goals from other parts of the penalty area. It should be noted that Aleksandar Mitrović took a penalty kick in the national team only three times during the 90 minutes of the match, he scored twice against Montenegro in Podgorica and Turkey in Istanbul, and once he missed, against Montenegro in Belgrade.

The best scorer in the history of our national football team also scored several spectacular goals – he himself admitted that his lob against the Republic of Ireland is his favorite goal. We still remember his bravado against Bolivia in Graz, Luxembourg in Belgrade, that turn and goal in Tbilisi against Georgia. And the  Mitrović’s attitude towards the jersey of his favorite colors is shown by the fact that he scored as many as 29 goals in competitive matches, only ten in friendly matches. He was one of the scorers at the FIFA World Cup in Russia against Switzerland, he shook the nets in the World Cup qualifiers, the League of Nations, the European Championship qualifiers… He was accurate 20 times in the away matches, he scored 19 goals at stadia in Serbia, 13 at the “Rajko Mitić” stadium. Finally, it should be emphasized that Aleksandar Mitrović is only 26 years old, and he played 63 games for the Serbian national team! “Mitrogoal” will definitely push the boundaries. It is very likely that in the future he will endanger the record of Branislav Ivanović of 105 games in the national team jersey.